DOST Conference Gears Up Grad Scholars for Industry 4.0

Wazzup Pilipinas!

To discuss Industry 4.0 and its inevitable impact on the scientific and education landscapes, the Department of Science and Technology-Science Education Institute (DOST-SEI) together with the Accelerated Science and Technology Human Resource Development Program – National Science Consortium (ASTHRDP-NSC) convened science scholars and educators in the 8th ASTHRDP Graduate Scholars Conference.

The conference, aptly themed “Level Up to Level All: Science as Platform for Industry 4.0”, was held on 2-3 May 2019 at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City with more than 400 DOST graduate scholars, faculty members of the NSC member-universities under the ASTHRDP, and guests in attendance.

DOST Secretary Fortunato de la Peña, through a message delivered by Assistant Secretary Leah Buendia, encouraged participants to adapt to changes and find ways to thrive amid the changes. “We have a technological environment that is different from what it used to be a decade ago, which means, we have to speed up our efforts to catch-up or even leapfrog other countries, technologically,” Secretary de la Peña said.

Also present in the event were Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Undersecretary of the Competitiveness and Innovation Group, Ms. Rafaelita Aldaba, who delivered the Keynote Address and ASTHRDP-NSC Chairperson, Dr. Fabian Dayrit.

The NSC is the implementing arm of DOST-SEI for the ASTHRDP, which provides Ph.D. and MS scholarships in the priority basic and applied sciences. It is composed of the following member-universities: Ateneo De Manila University; Central Luzon State University; De La Salle University; Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology; University of the Philippines campuses: UP Diliman, UP Los Baños, UP Manila, and UP Visayas; University of Santo Tomas; and Visayas State University.

Among the highlights of the two-day activity were the plenary talks with invited experts, parallel oral and poster presentations featuring researches of DOST graduate scholars, and an awarding ceremony for top poster and oral presentations.

First day of the event featured two plenary talks: Industry 4.0 Policy Strategies and the Role of Universities by Dr. Joseph Frohlich of Austria Institute of Technology and 4Cs Framework to Transform Higher Education Institution into an Innovation Producing ecosystem by Mr. Johnson Ong Chee Bin of ASEAN University Network in Singapore discussed. After the parallel sessions, participants and guests walked through the poster exhibit to get an overview of the researches.

The last two plenary talks, Self-sustainable Building by Dr. Noor Amila Wan Abdullah Zawawi of Institute of Self-Sustainable Building Universiti Teknologi Petronas, Malaysia and Industry 4.0 Implications on S&T Higher Education and Human Capital by Dr. Celia Reyes of Philippine Institute for Development Studies, were held on the second day.

The event culminated in the much-anticipated awarding ceremony, led by DOST-SEI Director Dr. Josette Biyo.

Melvir Sucaldito, a DOST scholar-graduate from the De La Salle University, lauded the conference for giving DOST scholars an opportunity to share their researches with the public. “It is also a venue to communicate with DOST-SEI and give constructive criticisms for the different programs. This has been a yearly celebration of success and triumphs,” Sucaldito added.

DOST-SEI, the country’s arm in science and technology human development resource development, is known for its undergraduate and graduate S&T scholarship programs. The annual ASTHRDP Conference is one of the agency’s supplemental projects aimed to urge DOST scholar-graduates to continue their engagement in research activities and collaborations to further develop the Philippine science community.

“We hope this conference will forge our scholars’ commitment to develop IR 4.0-ready skills and help small industries catch-up technologically,” Dr. Biyo said.

New Fishing Boats, Gears Bring Better Income to Fisherfolks in Quezon

Wazzup Pilipinas!

The coastal communities in the Quezon province are gifted with rich natural resources, both in land and sea. It is a major coconut producer and fishing thrives in Tayabas Bay. Despite these advantages, the province still has the highest poverty incidence in Region IV-A.

With the limited capital and skills, there is simply no means for people to harness these resources.

The Yakap at Halik Multi-Purpose Cooperative Quezon 2 (YHMPCQ2), with the support of Peace and Equity Foundation (PEF), introduced coastal management and social enterprise interventions in the towns of Padre Burgos, Agdangan, and Unisan that will raise the standard of living of poor households in the community.

These projects, aimed at increasing the income of 40 fisherfolks in the area, are also meant to protect the environment and make coastal resources more productive.

24 new fishing boats sail to a brighter future

With smiles on their faces, the fisherfolks in the town of Padre Burgos watched as the local babaylans bless their new fishing boats and gears.

In its effort to improve the major means of livelihood of the fisherfolks-members of YHMPCQ2, PEF gave a subsidized loan of PHP 1.2 million for fishing boats and gears of 24 fisherfolks in the community.

“Noon, nakikisali lang sila sa mga may bangka. May share lang sila sa kita,” PEF area officer, Peter Nabong said.

Nabong shared that some of the fisherfolks already earn PHP 3,000 to PHP 7,000 in one day alone through the new boats.

The fisherfolks with new boats and fishing gears are expected to generate an incremental income of PHP 55,000 per year.


Raising the enterprise to benefit fisherfolks

Recognizing the difficulty to fish in Tayabas Bay from November until March because of amihan, the PEF and YHMPCQ2 financed 40 fish cages and the fishpond operations in Padre Burgos to generate extra income to the fisherfolks and the cooperative.

With this provision, the fisherfolks can harvest bangus, mudcrab, and sugpo from the cages, and grouper and lapu-lapu from the fishpond. While the fisherfolks will be in-charge of feeding of the fishes and managing of cages and the pond, the cooperative will provide the fingerlings and feeds, and will also help in the marketing of harvested fish.

To equip the YHMPC with knowledge in aquaculture, PEF tapped social enterprise partner Kapunungan sa Gagmay'ng Mangingisda sa Concepcion chairman and community leader Roberto Ballon in the training of the fisherfolks.

Mr. Ballon is also instrumental in introducing new design for the fish cages to lessen the mortality rate of the groupers.


Fisherfolks spearheads mangrove reforestation in Tayabas Bay

According to World Wild Fund for Nature website, mangrove forests serve as a sanctuary for a large variety of fish, crab, shrimp, and mollusk species. These fisheries are essential in providing food to millions of people. Mangroves also helps in stabilizing the coastline and prevents erosion from waves and storms.

As part of the environmental protection component of PEF’s area-focused development strategy in Quezon, PEF allocated PHP 300,000 for mangrove reforestation and coastal resource management training to YHMPCQ2.

According to Nabong, protecting the environment in the coastal areas is essential in sustaining the livelihood activities of the fisherfolks.

“For long-term sustainability of our projects, kailangan talaga nating pangalagaan ang environment,” he said.

The Tayabas Bay has suffered from extensive dynamite fishing in the past, which destroyed the natural habitat of the fishes. These effects can be reversed by planting mangroves.

“Tutulong din kaming mag-establish ng mga bantay-dagat upang protektahan ang karagatan laban sa mga illegal fishermen at para maprotektahan din ang mga fish sanctuaries sa area,” Nabong added.

CAB Orders Cebu Pacific to Submit Concrete Plan to Prevent Further Mass Flight Cancellations

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Due to the recent spate of flight cancellations, the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) has ordered Cebu Pacific to submit within thirty (30) days a concrete plan detailing corrective measures in its operations to prevent further inconvenience to passengers.

The order proceeds from the report submitted by CAB to the Department of Transportation (DOTr) after the conduct of two formal hearings to explain circumstances behind the flight cancellations.

CAB likewise prescribes that a stern warning be given to Cebu Pacific to exercise diligence necessary in maintaining stability and reliability of air transport service to the riding public.

Cebu Pacific applied for cancellation of 172 one-way domestic flights from 28 April through 10 May 2019. This is equivalent to about 14 flights a day, out of its more or less 400 daily domestic flights.

DOTr Secretary Arthur Tugade emphasized that the formulation of a concrete plan will help the whole airline sector to address similar issues that might occur in the future.

“We are hoping that Cebu Pacific will immediately comply with the order to resolve this issue. Hindi na natin maibabalik pa ‘yung dinulot na inconvenience these cancellations have caused. But moving forward, we aim to have more substantial actions so that our passengers will not have to suffer,” Secretary Tugade said.

In the investigation held on 2 May and 6 May 2019, Cebu Pacific cited that ongoing efforts to improve on-time performance (OTP) have led to its decision to cancel hundreds of flights.

For the DOTr’s part, Secretary Tugade has directed the daily publication of airline OTP in major airports nationwide.


Declining On-time Performance

During the hearings, Cebu Pacific noted reasons for the downturn in its on-time performance. It explained that the time it takes from the aircraft's closing of doors to actual lift-off can reach as long as 66 minutes: 19.6 minutes of which is spent from the closing of doors to the “blocks off” or the time the aircraft vacates the parking position; while 46.6 minutes from the blocks off to the lift-off. Meanwhile, the shortest time between closing of doors and actual lift-off is at 49 minutes.

The hour-long stay on the tarmac was observed to have pushed Cebu Pacific’s OTP to an average of 51.16%, with lows of around 30% in March.

This record, according to Cebu Pacific during the hearings, impelled the airline to finally come up with the decision to cancel flights. It said that the flight cancellations will "create space" in their flight and crew inventory, "make way for operational recovery," and "minimize rolling delays." The airline made clear that the factors adversely affecting its OTP are largely within its internal operational sphere.

To further analyze the circumstances, CAB scrutinized several areas such as airline assets and crew.

In terms of assets, CAB found Cebu Pacific adequately equipped. The airline even has among the younger fleets among Philippine carriers. Additionally, Cebu Pacific is set to receive three more new aircrafts in the future.

For its crew, CAB questioned Cebu Pacific on its compliance with the regulations of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP), to which the airline responded affirmatively.

The Board was convinced with the scenario that the additional time spent by on-duty crew on the tarmac consumes the working hours and reserves that were supposed to be utilized at a much later schedule. Hence, it is in this sense that CAB finds Cebu Pacific to have "crewing problem."

Meanwhile, affected passengers' concerns were found to be handled properly by Cebu Pacific in compliance with the Air Passenger Bill of Rights. Thus, imposition of penalties was not considered at present.

While the Board understands the cancellations as a recuperative measure for the airline, CAB Executive Director Carmelo Arcilla points out that it cannot be made at the expense of the riding public.

"We want to remind airlines to consider the welfare of its passengers by avoiding short notice. The people have paid for these flights and have made their schedules accordingly. While we understand the corrective measures being made to improve OTP, maximum effort should be done so that these measures are not at the expense of our passengers,” Executive Director Arcilla said.